On the evening of March 14, the 2024 Anhui "3·15" party hosted by the Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Committee and the Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Bureau was broadcast. Dawan News reporters noticed that the party exposed many cases of infringement of consumer rights

On the evening of March 14, the 2024 Anhui "3·15" party hosted by the Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission and the Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Bureau was broadcast. Dawan News reporters noticed that the party exposed many cases of infringement of consumer rights.

reporter noticed that the Woodpecker Home Repair Platform, which claims to "fix everything except relationships," attracted attention by charging excessive fees for air-conditioning repairs. It is reported that the company has submitted an application for listing this year.

That evening, Dawan News reporters found from the national 12315 consumer complaint platform that there had been 20 complaints about the Woodpecker home maintenance platform since January. The Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission stated that it has issued an interview notice to the home appliance repair service company involved and handed over relevant suspected illegal clues to the local law enforcement authorities.

Anhui’s “March 15” party exposed chaos on the home appliance repair platform

On the evening of March 14, Anhui’s “March 15” party exposed the “Crazy Air Conditioning Maintenance” situation. The Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission conducted a market survey on household air conditioner repairs. It rented a house, set the same fault on the two air conditioners in the house, and randomly selected 6 electrical appliance repair companies through different repair platforms as a consumer. Make a repair report, test whether it can be repaired normally, and charge a reasonable fee. During the investigation by

, one of the two air conditioners was simply unplugged, preventing the air conditioner from starting. However, during the repair process, six companies charged more than 300 yuan in repair fees on the grounds that the computer board was damaged. These six companies include Woodpecker Home Appliance Repair Platform, Hello Repair, Geek Repair Platform, Flying Repair Platform, etc. Consumers were told that damaged computer boards would cost more than 300 yuan to repair.

Among them, a staff member of Woodpecker Home Appliance Repair Platform saw that the air conditioner's power supply was powered and directly determined that the computer board of the air conditioner was damaged. He claimed that he was a professional and said that he needed 360 yuan to replace the motherboard. After disassembly and inspection, the maintenance staff successfully started the air conditioner without replacing any parts.

Some of the exposed companies have submitted listing applications

reporters noticed that among the six home appliance repair companies exposed this time, Woodpecker Home Appliance Repair Platform has officially submitted its motherboard IPO listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year.

Industry insiders analyze that from the perspective of the business model of Woodpecker Home Appliance Repair Platform Company, it mainly matches previous transactions between cooperative engineers and users. Platform engineers are not employees or subcontractors of the company. Instead, the platform establishes a business partnership with the engineers and provides home maintenance service needs to the cooperative engineers. Attract users to place orders through the platform, and then take a commission from free labor costs (engineers) after repairs.

Through various complaint platforms, reporters found that complaints about Woodpecker maintenance mainly include high maintenance fees, opaque maintenance fees, major repairs for minor illnesses, and failure to resolve after-sales problems in a timely and effective manner. The reporter found from the national 12315 consumer complaint platform that there have been nearly 20 complaints about the merchant since January. The complaints involved issues such as repair prices, unreasonable delays, and unreasonable refusal to fulfill three guarantee obligations.

Over the past year, there have been hundreds of complaints and reports related to home appliance repairs in Hefei.

In recent years, minor problems, major repairs, and arbitrary charges have always been difficulties in safeguarding the rights of home appliance consumers. Due to the strong professionalism in the field of home appliance and other electronic appliance repairs, there are problems such as opaque consumption, confusing charges, and high prices.

A reporter from Dawan News learned from the 12315 command center of the Hefei Municipal Market Supervision Bureau that since March 16 last year, the command center has received a total of more than 470 complaints and reports related to home appliance repairs, mainly reflecting the quality of products during the three-guarantee period. Problems include the operator's refusal to assume the three-guarantee responsibility; failure to inform charging items during the repair process and unclear price tags; unreasonable delays in the construction period after repairs are reported and after-sales service; and excessive repairs during the home appliance repair process.

In October 2023, Mr. Liu, a Hefei citizen, complained to the Hefei 12315 Center that he purchased a refrigerator online in June 2023 and paid 3,000 yuan.In early October of the same year, there was a quality problem with the refrigerator. I contacted the after-sales department to report it. After-sales service arranged for two inspections by the technicians, which confirmed that the refrigerator did have quality problems. However, the merchant has been delaying in issuing an appraisal form, so it has been unable to replace it free of charge.

Mr. Liu was dissatisfied with this and complained that the merchants were selling fake and shoddy products and failing to implement the "180-day free replacement for malfunctions" rule. I hope to return the product for a refund and compensation for the losses of the past three days. After investigation and mediation by the market supervision department, the merchant involved agreed to replace the consumer with a new one.

Industry Association: Be wary of tricks in home appliance repair

"In recent years, it has become a common phenomenon in the home appliance industry that it is easy to buy electrical appliances but difficult to repair them. Some fancy tricks in home appliance repair have given consumers headaches and heartache." On the evening of March 14 After the "March 15" party in Anhui exposed the chaos in home appliance repair consumption, Hou Hui, secretary-general of the Anhui Electronic and Electrical Service Industry Association, said in an interview with Dawan News reporters.

According to Hou Hui, there are many problems in home appliance maintenance. The main reasons are closely related to the long-standing phenomena in the industry such as opaque information, lack of charging standards, and the proliferation of "black repairs."

For example, the phenomenon of major repairs for minor illnesses is common. "My friend has personally experienced something. A German brand wall-mounted boiler at home broke down. I called the official customer service number to report for repair. The maintenance staff said that the water pump inside was broken and it cost 1800. Buy accessories from multiple sources." Hou Hui told reporters that because he felt that the cost of accessories was too high, he hired a professional repairman to come and repair the wall-hung boiler, but found no problems with the wall-hung boiler accessories. In the end, the wall-hung boiler was repaired without replacing any parts.

"This is a very typical example. The home appliance repair industry is so professional that consumers cannot tell whether the machine is broken. Industry self-discipline and standardization should be strengthened to improve the service quality of the industry and allow consumers to consume with confidence." Hou Hui said that the industry still lacks a unified charging standard. The variety of expenses incurred in maintenance is dazzling, and different brands have different charging categories.

Hou Hui reminds consumers that when choosing after-sales maintenance services, regardless of whether they are within the warranty period, they must first choose service providers authorized by brand companies, or follow Anhui Province local standards db34/t4227 "Grading and Evaluation Standards for Service Organizations in the Electronic and Electrical Industry" 》Choose a graded evaluation service provider so that problems can be traced back. At the same time, don’t trust the so-called “official repairs” found on the Internet. After confirming the identity of the maintenance company and maintenance personnel, consumers should learn more about the charging standards for maintenance items and whether formal invoices can be issued, etc. When encountering high maintenance fees, find as many official maintenance shops as possible and shop around. Then decide whether to repair it.

Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission: It is recommended to keep the accessories replaced during maintenance

Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission recommends that consumers, first of all, should fully communicate with maintenance personnel before repairs to confirm the cause of the fault and the maintenance plan. Secondly, understand the maintenance quotation and composition, including door-to-door fees, disassembly and assembly fees, maintenance fees, accessories fees, etc. Finally, it is recommended that consumers be sure to keep the parts replaced during repairs, payment records, invoices and other maintenance-related vouchers after repairs, in order to prepare for legal rights protection in the future.

In addition, the Anhui Provincial Consumer Protection Commission reminds operators that Article 38 of the "Anhui Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Regulations" stipulates the notification obligations of maintenance service operators and should inform consumers in advance of the accessories and accessories required for maintenance. In terms of price and other aspects, this clause also imposes requirements on maintenance service operators such as "not to replace parts that do not need to be replaced, and not to cut corners". It is hoped that home appliance repair companies can operate in compliance with laws and regulations.

If a consumer encounters infringements such as major repairs for minor illnesses, major replacement of small items, or extortionate prices during home appliance repair services, they must collect evidence and negotiate with the repair company first. If the negotiation fails, call 12315 or a consumer organization in a timely manner. Make a complaint and safeguard your legitimate rights and interests.

Dawan News reporter Xu Qiqi

(Source: Dawan News)